


The Things we do for Love

by Rambling_bones



Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Child Death, Child corpse, Corpse Desecration, Dark fic, Dehumanization, Experimentation, F/M, Medical Horror, Section 13, The relationship is tagged but its more of a minor element, experimentation on a corpse, graphic description of gore, medical gore, organ harvesting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:21:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26175637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rambling_bones/pseuds/Rambling_bones
Summary: Igor Neuhaus begins his first day of work at section 13. The zombies and ghoul's department doesn't go as smoothly as he planned.This fic is primarily centered around pre series Neuhaus, all of the OCs are relatively minor characters. The Mature content warning is mostly because of gore and such. There is no sexual content in this fic.
Relationships: Igor Neuhaus/Michela Neuhaus, Igor Neuhaus/Michelle Neuhaus
Comments: 6
Kudos: 11





	1. First Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am really excited for this fic and I hope you all enjoy it! It's based around pre-series Neuhaus and centers on his life at section 13. Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos are appreciated. :)

It was only a few days after he settled into the facility with his pregnant wife, that Igor Neuhaus began working. Neither one dared to mention it, but they both knew it; something about this place was very off. It was hard to pinpoint what exactly it was, but from the dead look in everyone’s eyes, to the detached tone in their voice, it seemed like they’d gone through hell. Following his notice to begin working, Igor got ready and prepared for the worst. 

Once he finished eating, Igor shifted over to his wife. She flashed him a bright smile, “Do your best out there, okay? And be sure to have fun.”

“I’ll try,” he muttered with a little bit of a chuckle. “I’m not sure how much fun someone can have studying the undead, though.”

Michela frowned at that. “You won’t have a lot of fun with that attitude,” she teased, before giving him a kiss. “I’ll see you tonight. Be safe now,”

“I will. See you, tonight.” 

As they parted away, Igor left to find the facility. He was walking out the door, with a map in hand. Even with a map, section 13 was a maze. It took Neuhaus a long time to even find the ghoul department. He noticed some of the other markings on the map too, like “Lucifer” and “Samael” dorms. Those seemed confusing but he didn’t have the time to question it. 

Neuhaus continued his way around before arriving into a plain white room. There wasn’t much inside of the room except a table and three other men. Neuhaus mirrored their positions, and stood with his arms behind his back.

They waited like that until two people dressed in lab coats came in. One male, the other female. The man studied the room before speaking. “Very good, since everyone appears to be here, we may begin.” He sighed, as he proceeded to look down at his notes and then back up to the four faces in front of him. “As you have all been made aware of before joining, this facility has an utmost priority on secrecy. The information presented here, must not be shared with another soul outside of these walls. If any of you wish to back out, this will be your last chance.”

The man stared at each one of them. While the rest of him was stoic, his eyes weren’t. It almost looked as if he was pleading for someone, at least one of them to be smart enough to leave. Alas though, none of the four were. Each shook their heads in denial, and waited for him to proceed. 

He let out a breath, and continued with his notes. “In that case, we are then, to continue on with this. In order to ensure our secrecy here, you will all be signing a Morinath’s contract. You are not to say a single word about what happens here to anyone. Failure to abide by this contract, will cost you your life.” The man finished, as he placed a finger prick in front of them. “Once you’ve finished stamping your fingerprints, the first two, will go with Dr. Sauer. The other two will go with me.”

Neuhaus and one of the men followed the old man, while the others followed the woman. There wasn’t much talking as they walked down the hallways into a locker room. “First off,” the old man began, “we must get into proper attire for today. Please change out of what you’re wearing and put on one of the lab uniforms.”

Once changed, Neuhaus and the curly haired man found themselves in a large teal and white room. On a table laid a large black bag.

“Welcome gentlemen, I am your supervisor, Dr. Boris Lebedev. I am happy to join you in the department of zombies and ghouls.”

“It’s nice to meet you, doc!” The man next to Neuhaus, said cheerfully. “I am Luis De La Garza, and a new researcher from the Spanish branch.”

“I know,” The Doctor stated. “It is nice to meet you though. You as well, Mr. Neuhaus.”

Neuhaus nodded in acknowledgment, but didn't introduce himself. Instead, he waited on their first task. There was a moment of silence before it registered that Neuhaus was going to talk anymore. Once realized, the doctor continued to speak.

“Well now that we have that settled.” The Doctor started, “It’s about time that we get down to business. It’s fairly busy today, between the rat labs and harvesting but we will do fine. I know it’s the first day for both of you, but I hope with all three of us, the work won’t be too bad.”

“Sounds good,” Luis beamed. “What about you, Mr. Stoneface?” He turned to Neuhaus with a grin. “You haven’t said much yet.”

“It's fine by me.” He stated, sighing a bit. This man was probably only a little younger than Igor, he could already feel him getting on his nerves. 

With that, the doctor had both men follow him. He led Neuhaus and Luis into a room full of dead rats. “Since we are in the zombie department, we have been tasked with testing three elixir prototypes on the dead rats.” He reached over to the small cases stacked on a nearby counter. “Mr. Neuhaus, can you please grab me one of the rats from cages 10-15? Mr. De La Garza, can you get me some sterilizer?”

Both of them obeyed, and handed over the rat and cleaner. Meanwhile, the old man prepared a small, rat sized cardiogram. Once handed the rat, he hooked it up to the machine. Then the doctor opened up the first case, and cleaned off the needle and proceeded to inject the rat. The three of them waited over the rat for around fifteen minutes, as the doctor ran a timer. 

First, there was a flat line. Then there was some beeping, and spikes. “It’s heart… it’s started again.” Luis stated dumbfounded. 

“Write that down, Mr. De La Garza.”

“Did we bring it back?”

Neuhaus wasn't able to hide how surprised he felt looking at the rat either. Usually ghouls required some sort of possession or electric shocks to move. He had never seen someone just inject a corpse back to life. “How?” he slipped out..

The doctor noticed the slip, and grinned. “With elixir, of course!” This might have been the first time the old man showed any excitement all day. “It's incredible what the research here is already capable of. But,” he began, as the beeping shifts towards a flat line, “it’s still incomplete. What we have so far is amazing, but I hope I can one day see how much it will revolutionize medicine.” Some of the excitement drained from him, but his expression remained warm. “Let’s try the next rat.” 

And so, Igor went off to dispose of the first rat, and they all repeated what they did before. Neuhaus got the rat. The doctor cleaned the needle and timed the injection. Luis wrote notes. Once all three elixirs finished testing, they cleaned up the lab and returned to the first room. 

Once more, Igor and Luis found themselves in a large white room, with a bag on the table. The doctor told them to wait while he went to go get something. He returned with a table of various knives and medical supplies. 

The doctor began to unzip the black bag. Neuhaus and De La Garza, had seen it, but it was only now they finally got to see what was inside.

When they saw it, it was equal parts unnerving and unsurprising. Before the two men was a corpse, a boy’s corpse. Neither of them wanted to believe that a body had been in a bag, but the shape was a dead give away. 

Neuhaus scanned the boy. He couldn’t have been any older than thirteen, even then twelve sounded a bit generous. He had blonde locks that framed his face for the most part. However, Igor did pick up on some of the bald spots. His skin seemed to be similar. At first glance, there wasn’t much off about it. When looking more closely, though, Neuhaus was able to spot the rough red patches on his thighs. He then shot a glance to Luis, who was a lot quieter now.

“Lu-008,” the Doctor read off, glancing at the nude corpse. He was inaudible, as he read for a little while. Then he looked back up to the younger men before him. “According to the notes written by the subject’s caretakers and examiners, Lu-008’s passing was far from a surprise to anyone. The subject had been shown to be weakening significantly, and quite sickly. The scientists working on 008, hoped the test subject would’ve seen some form of recovery as a result of elixir. Surprising no one though, that did not happen. The subject’s death was both awaited and common. Due to the circumstances, an autopsy was deemed unnecessary.” He closed the file. 

Luis and Neuhaus looked on in silence as the doctor grabbed a nearby scalpel and placed it in front of the two to grab. They both stood there, waiting for the other to take it. Neuhaus eventually took it, and walked over to the child before him. 

“We need an organ transplant,” the doctor stated. “A page got bit by a demon, and she needs a new heart.” Neuhaus nodded, as he started to bring down the blade. He followed the instructions given by the doctor, and made the first incision. His hand was a bit shaky, but the cut had been made. 

Eventually though, the operation wasn’t too difficult for Neuhaus. A part of him, felt rather numb to it all, after the first incision. His hands settled down rapidly, as he cut the boy open further. He became indifferent to the fresh red stains that grew on his lab coat, as the hours passed. Before he knew it, in his gloved hands, was a heart.

He turned to the doctor and Luis. The doctor went ahead and bagged the heart, and ran to transfer it to the organ fridge down the hall. While he left, he looked over to Luis. 

“What’s with the face?” He asked, taking off the blood stained gloves. “You were so perky earlier.”

“It was a child…” Luis stammered, staring at the boy. 

“He was dead.” 

“I know… Something about this though, it just feels wrong.” 

Igor, took a deep breath, and decided not to respond. Instead, he looked over to the door opening upon the doctor's return.

“Thank you, Mr. Neuhaus. That heart will be put to good use,” the doctor smiled. His smile didn't last, though. He turned his gaze back over to the boy. There was a large gash in his chest, exposing his organs. “Unfortunately, we still have a lot of work to do on the subject,” he sighed.

“What else is there to do?” Luis asked, with his voice wavering.

“Well, we need to cut apart the body now.” The Doctor was blunt. “Lu-008 has a lot of limbs that aren’t of much use to us attached.” 

Luis’s expression dropped. “But it's a child,” he repeated, on deaf ears once more. 

Neuhaus opened his mouth to speak. Maybe it was to take Luis’s words back, but instead the doctor cut him off.

“Lu-008, was a test subject, and now a corpse.” He has an empathetic expression as he hands Luis a blade. “We are not concerned with the life stories and who a corpse may have been. As someone in our field, you should know this better than anyone.” 

Luis nodded, and attempted to keep his face together. 

Igor’s assignment wasn’t exactly an easy one. Since Luis was already breaking, he was once again assigned the harder job. Sure, he didn’t need to be as precise this time, but taking the head off was no walk in the park.

Neuhaus placed his hands in the boy’s locks. He pulled his hair back a bit, as the knife pressed down against the boy’s throat. Despite the knots in his stomach, he continued. Neuhaus looked down at blonde strands of hair in his hand. For a brief moment, Michela flashed in his mind, and he averted his gaze. He’s unsure which is worse to look at. The hair, or the neck. 

As he sawed away, Igor felt the pressure in his hand decrease. He especially hated it when he had to look back, to see where he was cutting at the boy’s neck. He idly continued until his knife hit the bone. 

Coming back to reality, he set the boy’s head down. The first knife is cleaned and placed on a table. Then Igor switched it out for the knife better suited for cutting bone. 

On his way back to the corpse, he took a glance at Luis, and his progress with cutting the boy’s leg. He looked ready to vomit. Neuhaus quickly shifted away from the man. He felt the turning in his stomach come back, as he settled himself at the head. 

Igor tried to ignore the sound of the knife grinding against the neck bone. He was aiming to focus on something else instead. Anything else. He found himself staring at the wall, and blanking his mind. Soon enough he falls back into his previous position. One hand pulled on the boy’s hair, the other cutting through the bone. His movements were robotic. Back and forth. Back and forth. 

It went on like this for a long time. Frankly, Igor couldn’t tell how long though. All he knew was that finally, only for a second, the hand holding the boy’s hair got heavier. He felt the locks rip and heard a thud. 

Luis and the doctor ran to Neuhaus to see what had happened. Neuhaus, got up off the ground, and turned around. Facing them, he had held a child’s head in his hands. The knot felt worse than ever. 

“What should I do with it?” Neuhaus asked, as he refused to look down at what he was holding.

“Put it in the ghoul fridge.” The doctor said. “We will need it for tomorrow.”

Neuhaus began to leave. Only to turn back around, when he heard the doctor’s voice.

“Good work today, Mr. Neuhaus. After you get that, and these other two limbs into the fridge, you may be dismissed.”

Neuhaus nodded, and headed over to the fridge. He ignored the heavy feeling in his heart, and opened the door. He placed the head into the fridge. Only when the blond hair stared back at him, does Neuhaus close the fridge door. He then gathered up the two legs, and returned to the fridge. Evading his eyes from the head, he placed the legs on a lower shelf.

When Neuhaus returned, he briefly looked at what once was the boy. Upon him was the sight of torso with only arms, and the chest wide open. Within a matter of seconds, jerked the other way. Instead he looked at Luis, who had tear stains trailing his cheeks. 

Neuhaus didn’t say much, but did talk to Luis. “See you tomorrow, De La Garza.” He said, as he left the room and the broken man.

Before leaving the facility, Neuhaus stopped in the locker room. He took off the bloodstained clothing, and put it in a nearby bag. After a quick shower, he threw on his old clothes and headed home. 

Once the lock to his door clicked, Neuhaus heard footsteps come rushing to the door. 

“Your Home!” A warm voice says to him, before looking into his eyes. “How was wor-” Michela began, before noticing the lifeless look in Igor’s eyes.

Neuhaus saw her expression fall, and glanced even further down to her stomach. It all comes crashing down, and now he feels sick. “It was alright.” He gave a weak answer. “I just did a lot.”

“I see…” she responded, with the brightness dwindling from her voice. “Would you rather eat or lay down?” 

“I’m not very hungry.”

“That’s okay,” she entwined her fingers with his, and led Igor to their bedroom. The apartment was small, but it was nice. 

They found themselves laying down next to each other. It was quiet for a good time, before Michela broke the silence. “Was work hard today?”

Igor nodded, and gave her a kiss. “It was, but that’s okay. As long as I have you, I will get through it.” His voice shaked a little when he answered her. 

Michela pulled him in closer. “We will get through it together, okay?” She kissed his hand. “You, me and our baby is all we need.”

Neuhaus gave her a weak smile, and ignored the disgust he currently feels. “It is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who is doesn't already know, Michelle Neuhuas's name was changed to Michela in the manga. So I decided to tag both Michela and Michelle. In this fic, Neuhaus is also 20-21. Luis, my OC, is 19. Reading Neuhaus's character profile, apparently he's 39. So if you do the math, 39-16, he lost his wife around 23. However since his child was a toddler when they died in the manga, he probably started work at section 13 earlier than that.
> 
> This is my first time posting fanfic, so apologies if the tags are a bit confusing and/or overkill. This is also my first dabble into dark fic, it was based on a headcanon that section 13 reused the dead clones to create their zombies and ghouls. I also hope you guys liked my OCs, I mostly added them because I needed people for Neuhaus to interact with.


	2. New Year, New Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A year has passed after Neuhaus first began his job at Section 13. 
> 
> The fic's mature rating is because of gore, however this chapter is not nearly as gory as the first. The OCs are also still very minor characters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is chapter 2! Before I begin, I wanted you to know that NikoIai Eminescu is Drac. He was said to have changed his name to Drac at some point, and in chapter 102, he is referred to as "Mr. Eminescu.", which leads me to believe the name change happened after the Blue Night. Anyway, I hope you guys like it. If possible, comments are greatly appreciated. <3

It has been a year since Igor Neuhaus started working at section 13. Somehow, Luis was still employed. The amount he cried at work went down significantly, though. On Neuhaus’s part, things got easier. He found himself not having as much of a guilty conscience every time he worked. Every time he cut up a child corpse, and stitched it back together as something new. It could have been the reason for that, was the children had the same three faces every time. Something about the entire experience was uncanny, but he got used to it.

Among the other things that happened during the past year, Michela gave birth. It was stressful when it happened, though. The rumors of dead surrogates terrified him when she had to give birth on grounds. Despite all the stress, everything turned out okay. When he was finally able to see Michela since her water broke, she was holding their child. He could still remember how happy he was to see the baby with his hair, and Michela’s eyes. 

“Sasha.” Ended up being the name they chose for their child. Things changed a little bit after Sasha was born. Michela took the role of watching the baby, and Igor took more shifts. It was harder, but seeing how peaceful Michela looked when he got home, made it all worth it. It reminded him why he even bothered to work this hell job in the first place. Neuhaus would walk his way over to his half asleep wife, holding onto the newborn. He would then give one kiss to Michela, and another to Sasha. 

For a good time, life went on like this. Igor began to comfortably fall into the same routine. Sure, it wasn’t ideal, but he didn’t necessarily hate it either. Though, one day things changed. Neuhaus actually got off relatively on time for once. On time, meaning nine at night, as opposed to midnight. He walked in the door, seeing Michela, who was awake. Normally, she would either be asleep or falling asleep, but right now, she was excited. 

“I sent in an application!” Michela smiled, while holding a sleeping Sasha. She could see Igor’s expression turn south, and she tried to explain. “I know this isn’t quite what you wanted, but I’m worried about you.” The initially cheery tone of her voice, shifted to a more serious one.

“What do you mean?” He asked, feeling staggered. 

“I see how you come home from work,” she freed up a hand to reach out to his cheek. “You always look so exhausted, and you’ve been pulling numerous fourteen hour shifts. Some days even longer. I know you’re trying your best to make ends meet, but I want to help you.” She stared him right in the eye. There wasn’t any anger in her voice though, only worry. 

“I know…” he responded, feeling as if he kicked a puppy when he saw her face. No matter how hard he’d try, Neuhaus was struggling to think of any more to say to her. They both knew he needed this job. They also knew that the wages aren’t great, and Igor can’t cut many hours with Michela unemployed. Baby expenses weren’t exactly cheap, and if they wanted to be able to one day afford a house of their own. Plus there was future expenses of eventually enrolling Sasha into school, and...

“Igor,” Michela’s voice was sharp, but there was no venom in it. “You’re zoning out again.” She gave him a kiss, and moved her hand from his cheek, downward so it’s holding his. “The amount you’re working isn’t good for you. I want you to be able to sleep, and I want you to be able to spend time with Sasha.” She held his hand a little tighter. “I know financially, it wouldn’t be good for you to work less, but it would be far better for your health.” She took in a breath, before giving him a harsh, but honest statement. “You look terrible.”

He looked downward, and gave Michela a nod. He wasn’t sure what he could say to her. She’s right. 

After that night, Michela had gotten an interview. One thing led to another, and she was employed at section 13, as well. Her primary job was acting as an office clerk for the files she received from various scientists and caretakers. 

While Michela worked, and brought Sasha with her, Neuhaus continued his days in the lab. Usually Luis, and Dr. Lebedev were working with him, but some tasks he had been assigned to work with other people. Sometimes Dr. Sauer was his supervisor for the day, instead of Lebedev. Today was one of those days. Luis was out sick, and Lebedev had some extra work he had to tend to, so Neuhaus alone was assigned with Dr. Sauer. 

Sauer pulled back her peppering hair as she tapped on the clipboard in her hand. “Mr. Neuhaus, there are numerous spare limbs in the fridge. While we can use some to feed the demons, there are still plenty of good and usable limbs in there. We mustn’t let them go bad. I’d hate to waste good parts.”

Igor understood exactly what that meant. Today would be one of those days where he was creating a naberius. It almost meant that it was the clean out day for the limb fridge. Sauer followed Neuhaus across the hall to the fridge, which was unusual. Usually she would leave him be and work on her own things. Sauer wasn’t the type to work with her subordinates. She preferred to give instruction, and leave them to their own devices. At most, she would pop in here and there to make sure they did things properly, but that was about it. So seeing her so much as follow him into the fridge room, means that something new is coming today.

Once they got there, Igor began grabbing out some of the limbs. He wasn’t able to hold much, but he was able to solidly hold three to four at a time if he stacked them. One new thing Neuhaus noted back in the operating room, was a large sink filled with a dark liquid. 

“What’s in the sink?”

“It’s a mixture. The water is made from diluted bits of a black flame crystal, sulfur has been added amongst a few other ingredients.” She glanced over to Neuhaus’s unimpressed face. “Have you ever heard of a chicken marinade?” She asked, with clear irritation in her voice.

“Yes?”

“It’s a similar idea here. Lately, the naberius demons the facility has tried to produce have been rather unsuccessful. The flesh has gone too rotten and unusable before a demon could possess it. Instead of feeding another unsuccessful amalgamation to the successful ones, we’ve decided to test a theory. The main idea is that we prepare the limbs to be more appealing for a naberius demon to possess. Like the chicken, I want you to marinate those limbs you’ve got there.”

Neuhaus understood, and tossed his stack of legs and an arm into the sink. Sauer gave him a nod of approval before leaving. Neuhaus left the room once more, and came back to the limb fridge. Since he couldn’t carry a lot, he usually had to make multiple trips. 

Igor closed the fridge door and started to leave the room. Walking out into the hallway, he ran into a man bolting towards the rat room. He had greying black hair and a monocle. 

Neuhaus avoided eye contact with the man, and hoped to God that he didn’t see him. Nikolai Eminescu was a man capable of doing something few men could; terrifying Neuhaus. A lot of the scientists in the facility were apathetic about the clones. Some might have reasoned with themselves that this was for the greater good. Others would detach from reality entirely. The ones who still cried for the clones, were rare, but not nonexistent. Dr. Eminsecu was none of these. As far as Neuhaus could tell, he seemed to be the only one enjoying it. For that reason alone, the man was unnerving. 

“Mr. Neuhaus,” Eminsecu turned over to Igor. “I hope I am not interrupting anything, but I wanted to say hello, because I hear you have made quite the impression. Good luck with that.”

Neuhaus gave him a nod of acknowledgment and continued moving forward. Unsettled, Igor returned to the operating room. He dumped the new limbs into the liquid. Then he pulled out some of the limbs that were soaking in elixir. 

Considering what his doctorate was in, stitching the naberius body together, was relatively easy. The hard part was getting a demon to actually possess the cobbled body. While he had the advantage of knowing what assembly would boost the chances of possession, there never was a guarantee for any of these things. The assembly process took up the entire day. Thanks to Michela’s job though, Neuhaus got off at a decent time. His work day ended with Neuhaus lugging the unfinished body away into the store room. 

He took a shower, cleaned off the mixture and ghoul blood, and then clocked out. Igor ended up returning home around seven. He took off his shoes and settled down on the couch. Michela came into view, holding Sasha. As she walked closer into the light, he could see her face better. He took notice of her red eyes, and tear-stained cheeks. 

“Igor,” she said, wiping away a tear. “I know it’s silly of me, but it was awful.”

“What?” He asked, panicked about what she could’ve seen. “Did something happen at work today? You don’t have to keep this job up if you don’t like it.”

“No, it’s not that.” She reassured him. “I was sorting through the files, and one of them fell out. I know I shouldn’t have read it but…” she took a breath, as some tears came streaming down her face. “Those poor rats!”

Neuhaus didn’t know how to respond to her. He opened his mouth to request more context, but dropped it fast. Instead, he held onto her free hand, and nodded, allowing her to continue.

“I know that’s what the purpose of lab rats is, but reading how they were treated…” she took a breath. The more Michela talked about the treatment of the rats, the more Igor felt something eat away at his conscience. She rambled on about her job filing away the rat’s files, and how the experiments were explained to her. 

Once she was calm and went away to make dinner, Neuhaus found himself angered more than anything. It was hypocritical, yes; but something about it all made him furious. How could the facility blatantly lie to her like that? He could feel his fist shaking a bit, but he tried his best to remain calm. 

“Igor!” Neuhaus felt his fist stop as he heard his wife’s voice. “I made dinner.” 

His face softened, and he tried to distract himself from the fact that they lied to her. He decided not to focus on it anymore that night, and to enjoy the meal Michela made. 

The next day began like every other day. He woke up at six, turned off the alarm, and looked at Michela sleeping. He smiled at how peaceful she looked laying there. God, he was in love with her. 

He got dressed, and ate a quick meal. On his way to the door, he turned around to the sound of crying. Sasha is up. Neuhaus rushed to the crib, and held onto the baby. 

“Shhh… it’s okay, Daddy is here.” He mused, as he rocked Sasha in his arms. Her sobs started to die down as Igor continued to rock her. He tried to head over to Michela, who just woke up.. He gives her a kiss on her little head. “I have to go now, but Mommy will take good care of you while I’m gone, okay?” 

Michela, half asleep nods. Igor hands the baby off to his wife, and kisses her. “I will see you tonight, Michela.” Then he gives Sasha another kiss. “I will see you as well. I love you.” He smiled at them both, and departed. 

Work was pretty much the same as it usually was. After getting situated he started with disposing of the failed naberius bodies and unusable limbs. Which meant feeding the now rotten flesh to the successful demons. After that, he spent the rest of the day finishing the naberius body he started. It was time for him to buckle down and start fine stitching the limbs. 

The process was tedious and took hours. To keep himself entertained, Neuhaus thought of his daughter as he pulled the thread through the rotting flesh. Maybe we can get her some company. He thought to himself, as he stabbed the needle in. A pet might be nice. Maybe a dog. The thought was nice. She was still quite young, but Neuhaus loved to imagine her, a little toddler, playing with a puppy. He stared at the floor with a warm grin across his face, as he drew the thread back. Yeah, a dog would be nice. Maybe a terrier, like that one over there. 

Igor snapped back into reality. What the hell was a dog doing in here. His eyes widened, realizing the white terrier in front of him was indeed real. What was up with the weird collar anyway?

“Who the hell let yo-” Neuhaus began, only to be cut off by a cloud of purple smoke. He coughed, and backed himself into the wall, upon the sight of a tall man.

“Now, now,” he sighed, finding some amusement in Neuhaus’s confusion. “That is no way to address your superior.” He glanced down at a panicked Neuhaus’s hand. “Put that thing away, this isn’t math class.” 

Neuhaus lowered the compass in his hand, while still holding tightly onto it, and gave the tall man an incredulous glare. “Who are you?” 

“I am your superior, Sir Mephisto Pheles.” He sighed. “I figured you would like to hear the news about your promotion, in person. The higher ups in this department wouldn’t stop talking about you, and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. They failed to mention your appearance.” He pauses, and gives a smile. “Maybe some rest will be for the better. It might even help with your jitters.”

Neuhaus’s brow furrowed, as he was trying to figure out if he was being complimented or insulted. “Promotion?”

“Yes, you’re being promoted. Since you are such a hard worker, the facility has taken notice of you.” Mephisto, out of thin air, grabs a piece of paper that explains all the details of his new position. “You can read over that tonight, but the short of it is, you’re a senior researcher now.”

Igor slowly grabbed the paper, and put it in his pocket. Considering the clownish looking man hasn't left yet, there has to be more to his surprise appearance. He gave Mephisto another distrusting glare.

“There’s no need for that,” Mephisto said, looking a little offended by the dirty look. “I see you still have your suspicions, and that’s okay. After all, there is more I wanted you to know.”

Neuhaus was a bit unsure what it could be, but had no choice in hearing him out. After all, he did back himself into the wall.

“Considering how much of a hard worker you are,” the clown stated, sounding only half genuine. “I thought you would be the perfect recruit for a top secret project. Unfortunately, all the details are confidential, so I can’t give you a clear idea of what you’ll be doing.” 

“Would I get paid more?” 

“That’s confidential.”

“Would I receive better hours?”

“I’m sorry, I cannot tell you that right now.” He could see that Neuhaus wasn't impressed. “If you want to spend the next years creating naberius bodies and such, that’s fine. I simply thought being an important part of the project would appeal to you.”

“Thank you,” Neuhaus said, his voice filled with insincerity. “Right now, I am fine with just the promotion. Thank you for it, and I look forward to continuing research.” 

“In that case best of luck to you, Dr. Neuhaus. There’s no hard feelings over the offer. I hope to see you succeed as a researcher here,” with that, Sir Pheles had turned back into the terrier, and left.

Now alone, Igor tried to pick up where he left off on the naberius. He started getting back into the flow of it, and finalizing the stitching. Unlike earlier, his mind was on the project offer. What the hell could that clown have wanted? 

He stayed like this, all the way until he completed his shift. The body was finished, and he was able to return home. He went to the locker rooms, and showered. He came home to Sasha and Michela, and continued his nightly routine. 

Igor Neuhaus didn’t get much sleep that night. While the offer was vague, something about it was so off putting to him. Next to his sleeping wife, he found himself lying awake in bed, eyes staring dead at the ceiling.

What the hell could that clown have wanted?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was the chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it. I really liked going ahead and naming Neuhaus's child. While I do personally headcanon that they had a girl, (hence the mentions of her), I did want to keep it somewhat open ended, since others might have headcanoned differently. I chose "Sasha" for the name, because it was both gender neutral and eastern European. I felt that was fitting, since Neuhaus is Polish. As for the chapter itself, this was a lot more of a transitional chapter, but I did have fun writing it.


End file.
